Fire kills two children in Lagos apartment

Two children died in fire accident.

A mother, Mercy Samson has lost her two children, Emmanuel Samson, aged 3 and his two months old sister, Rosemary Samson of Sosanya Street, Ifako, Gbagada, Lagos State, to stove fire accident in their apartment.

Mercy reportedly locked the children inside their one-room apartment around 10pm on Monday and went out to buy sugar at a shop on the street.

Naija News gathered that their father, Otunimi Samson, had not returned from work at the time of the incident.

It was learnt that after buying the sugar, the woman went to another shop to visit a friend for about 30 minutes. She was at the shop when neighbours rushed to call her that her apartment which was a makeshift plank structure attached to a building was on fire.

It was learnt that officials of the Lagos State Fire Service from the Ilupeju Fire Station joined the residents in extinguishing the fire.

A neighbour, Kehinde Jay, narrated to Punch that it was a resident who was returning from work that noticed smoke surging from the apartment and raised the alarm.

Jay said further, “Iya Emmanuel (Mercy) went out to buy sugar and went to her friend in a shop on the street. A resident, who was returning from work, said he saw flames and heard Emmanuel screaming. He tried to open the door, but failed. He then came to call me and other neighbours.

“When we got there, the fire had escalated and we could not open the door. I was outside when the woman was going out and I thought that she was back, not knowing that she was with her friend on the street. Emmanuel tried to open the door, but the door was locked.

“Her husband returned home drunk and for some time, he was not aware of the incident. It was later that he started lamenting the deaths.”

He added, “When the Divisional Police Officer of the Ifako station asked her why she did not go with the baby, she said she was not in a mood to answer any question. She later said it was the woman who sold sugar to her that delayed her.”

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, said a preliminary investigation revealed that the bed, on which the baby was laid, caught fire from a burning stove in the room, urging the residents to avoid cooking near inflammable household materials.

He said, “It was suspected that the mother was cooking in the house. The stove was close to the bed which was consumed by the fire. When a foam mattress goes up in flames, it is very injurious to health. The fumes it produces are very toxic. That could have led to inhalation of toxic fumes by the children.

“People should stop cooking in living rooms. It is very dangerous. Even when you cook in a kitchen, make sure flammable materials are not close to the naked light. When you are cooking, you don’t leave it unattended to. The mother of the deceased was not at home when the apartment was gutted by fire.”

Fadipe therefore, advised residents to promptly call the agency whenever fire accident occurred.